Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 26 of 30 12/16/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 26 of 30

12/16/2020

 

Still wish I could just vent all of them besides the Kid. I could sleep then, let him take over for it all for a while. I could sleep. Take another swallow of the stim drink.

“Hey kid,” on the internals, “Bring me up another couple stim drinks would ya too. Thanks.”

I see him look into the camera and nod affirmatively. Good kid, hope he survives the training program and gets his own Track someday.

Check the externals and there might be movement outside of the spots and floods range. Normally the things shy away from out lights. Normally. Not sure. Either something new, or my eyes are pulling tricks on my mind.

Slew the main Gun Cameras in that direction and light off a pair of flares from the Aux Panel. Wait for them to ignite to get a better idea what might be out there. Still not sure what might be stirring. Anything out at night would be bad news at the best of times. Not going to roust them all unless need to.

Swear it looks like there are lights out there as well. Spots dancing all over the place. Different colors, red and blue, green and white ones too. Strange like they are moving in the same or similar direction as we are. Does not look like another track, something else.

I keep watch over in that direction. The stars are out also, can discount those, as they are just stars far far away. The lights all seem to move in what could be random patterns. Never seen anything like this before. Again, this is a new route, one I have not run before. It could be something inherent to this area.

They all fade away just as the Kid makes it back up here. I check all the feeds, the radars show clear as well. Must have been some sort of atmospheric disturbance.

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 25 of 30 12/15/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 25 of 30

12/15/2020

 

 

I grab up the first message again.

 

::MSG FOLLOWS:: All Tracks Return to City, shortest route, no delay. Maximum Spd possible. Conserve supplies. Return NLT 5 days from receipt. IMPERATIVE, NLT 5 days from receipt.::

Never had something like this before happen in all the runs. Had breaches, main guns ripped out of a mount, dismounted and hiked back to the City, flooded or dealt with landslides. Never had a message directing all Tracks at the same time. Something is happening. Something different. Different is never good, routine is good, consistency is good, different is dangerous.

 

Back to looking at what the Kid is doing. Put some water in my eyes also, they are starting to dry out a lot more than the first day I had them pinned back. I think we will be back in two days, or is it three? Not sure on the timeframe anymore. Check the route, and make a few updates to it. Not saving any more time, just a little flatter than it might be.

 

The Kid has some of the manuals out, looks like he is reviewing the drive train. Good stuff to know, how durable, the speed. How well it can handle rough terrain. All things we Drivers need to know. He knows more about the Guns than most of us ever need to. Which is not a bad thing.

 

Read it over again. Just makes no sense. I feel fine, fingers are tingling and no idea where my toes are. Take my boots off, they are all still there.

“Kid, go get me some socks would you? Maybe a snack or desert ration as well.” He heads into the back and I slide my seat back as far as it will go. Wonder how the other two Drivers are doing. Not talked to them since the Kid came up here. Maybe I don’t need them. Maybe I vent all the air and get them out of my mind.

Cannot do that yet, still need the Gunners in case we run into something too fast or large to evade.

 

 

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 24 of 30 12/14/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 24 of 30

12/14/2020

 

It takes a few moments to finish up in there. Wash my face a couple more times, then back out into the compartment. During the time I was in the space it turned dark outside. The sky above wheeled and turned for me and I took back over the main position.

 

The Kid was still up there, watching all the screens with the Aux Panel out and all in the Green. The Deploy Panel is in the Red, none of the main weapon systems ready. The floods and spots are all on their highest settings and the area surrounding the path is as bright as it can be.

 

I think we are a few days out from The City still. Should be back in plenty of time. Turn the internal feeds back on and see what the crew is up to at this time. I stare at them back there, ignorant of the weight of driving, of being the one in charge, making all of the decision, of being responsible. Some Drivers crack under the pressure. Make a few recons, pull back, give up the three chairs and disappear from sight into the city. Others run for a while, then pull back just far enough to train and educate, teach basics inside the walls, and never leave the confines again.

 

Others like me, know we shall never get out of our Tracks, unless we are moving into a different one due to damages or maintenance. This is what it truly means to be a Driver.

Back to the internal feeds. Looks like most of the Suits are doing maintenance with the Gunners racked out. Not enough spaces for everyone to sleep at once. We never stop moving, always have at least half of all of a track crew up and ready to engage.

 

 

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 23 of 30 12/13/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 23 of 30

12/13/2020

Endless hours of monitoring what is happening in front and to the sides of us. Not certain just how log I have been awake at this moment. Should have enough stims in me to make it the rest of the way to The City. Will take some more if I feel the slightest decrease in visual acuity. I have turned off the feeds into the main portion of the track. Too distracting watching them all back there.

The kid is spending lots of time up here with me. Sometimes he naps in the back chair, third Driver chair is the official designation. I turned the Radar gain up a notch more, to make sure nothing will get past it. I have the Missile Panel all Green, waiting for anything that may come even close. Will pop off a few to discourage at range.

I hear noises from outside the track. Will turn on all the exterior lights to discourage the monsters from getting closer. The vast majority of the native live forms here are aversive to bright lights. Have the spots on also just roaming about, to scare off the smaller ones and see the larger ones if they come to investigate.

The route has gotten rougher, more rocks and boulders, the all-terrain mode is working and we are riding over the ones up to a third our size with no real issues. I have to keep myself strapped in the main Driver seat to keep from falling out and potentially being injured.

I cannot stop the Track. My first and only priority is to get it back to the City. My only loyalty is to the Track.

I grab a few bites from the open ration. Cannot even taste it. More water also. The kid is awake and I step into the compartment relief station. I feel the tracks gripping and grabbing the rocks and ground, swaying beneath my feet.

 

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 22 of 30 12/12/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 22 of 30

12/12/2020

Time is blurring on me. There has been a couple more attacks. One largish one easily driven off and a small pack of somethings, almost swarmed and it if were not for the PDG and PDM along with the ElectricClaymores and just going into full all terrain mode and driving over and through them, the entire Track would have been lost. The Mains were useless, the Sides constantly chattering and the Tail Guns laying down all they could in firepower kept us alive.

The whole rolling pack ball thing was not as fast once a good portion of it was blown away. The exterior is coated in their innards. Smearing and streaking the View Panels and gumming up the cameras. Going to have to have a Suit or two deploy and cling on to clean up some of it.

Will have to be done at Full Speed of course. So manual deployment, clamp on and clamber up on top to work front to back cleaning what they are able to. Not fun, but they have had a quiet time only out in the fray three times total this recon. I have no real sympathy for them at all.

“Main Gunners to the Drivers Compartment please.”

Not too long and two of them show up. Point out that a couple of the Suits need to deploy and they both see and agree with the plan. Will have to slow to one quarter speed just long enough for them to reach the top and then back down to retrieve them. Only a few minutes both ways so will not affect the timetable appreciable. Give them fifteen minutes to get them ready and then will deploy them.

The work is completed and we pick speed back up. No loss of either of the two Suits, so that is a bonus

 

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 21 of 30 12/11/2020

 Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 21 of 30

12/11/2020

It is a shame to have to drive away, without being able to get samples or take image of it and the damage that was caused. Would be good to see which weapons did the most damage. Better for other tracks in case they run into another one like it.

“Hey Kid good work again. Go rest some more, will need you up here more to make the final push through.”

He heads back into the main portion of the Track. Shortly it seems that the terrain gets a bit rougher once we are well past the dead monster. I go back and review the existing maps and perhaps a slight course correction to the left of our present track will yield a smoother path. So far things have gone much better than I anticipated.

Overall, this is much smoother and better than I had hoped out pan out. The next few hours are quiet and we make great time in our current mission. I refine the course a little more. A little farther out from the direct line makes for a smoother ride which means we can be at full speed and actually will shave a few hours off the entire trip.

Dump a few more stims and keep it moving. A bit later the Kid makes it back up to the compartment. He brings along some more rations and water. That is a good thing. I do not plan to leave up here until we get back to The City.

I have decided I need to be awake the entire rest of the trip. I can load up on stimulants, but eventually my eyelids will droop and I might fall asleep. I am going to pin my eyelids open until we get back. Wil need to eyedrop them once in a while. But otherwise, this should keep me from being able to doze off, with them wide open the entire next few days.

So he has the wire I asked for. Grab the spray anesthetic and get the eyelid dosed up. Clean off the lid and the wire with an alcohol swab and gently thread the wire across the skin. Take care to not get my eyeball, that would not do. Once I got both of them done, I take some other wires and pull the lids up, so they are kept open. Not a lot of blood really, use the coagulant to make sure.

Ready to make the final run straight to the City, nonstop, no need to worry about rest or anything like that. The compartment has a relief station, so I can be here the entire time, in charge of the situation.

 

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title) Day 20 of 30 12/10/2020

Dead Cities and Deader Men (Operative Title)

Day 20 of 30

12/10/2020

The communication machinery is working, decoding a second message just as a contact appears on the radar. The one will take a while, so focus on the potential target. Slew all available Cameras in the direction, and it is a monster out there.

Not seen that type before, multilegged, taller than the usual, maybe about five meters in height, with a dozen meters in length. Does not look too armored, that much weight that high in the air, it is likely fast and not so armored. Since the recon and patrol routes I am normally on do not pass this way, it must be more local or native to here.

With it being a lot flatter than most, that might make sense. Still does not feel like a usual run at all. With the illnesses and tap outs, along with a substitute driver, none of it feels like it should.

Check the feeds again, looks like it is turning more in our direction, like an intercept course. Will be about five or so minutes before in range of the Side Guns. Give it a minute or so more before alerting the Gunners.

By the Landing, it looked right into the cameras, no way past it now.

“All Gunners, man weapons. Target inbound approximately three minutes or less. Prepare for Deployment as last resort. This is a ride and shoot instance, no automatic deployment. Repeat ride shoot.”

It only takes a minute for the Kid to get back up here. He sits and pulls out the Aux Panel and preps it for the coming battle. Look over at the Deploy Panel and all Green across the board. Look and the thing has sped up, my estimate was long, going to be in range way sooner.

“Main Guns fire when ready, Side Guns wait till closer. Tail Guns, we plan to just keep going so you will have free fire once behind us.”

The lights dim to almost off when both Main Guns fire at the same time. I can see both rounds hit and the light weight of the monster, compared to many, rocks it back on its legs. I can see and almost hear a roar from it. Rocks about shatter around it from the sonic vibrations and I can see dust raised up from the response.

Suddenly the Side Guns chatter and I see rounds impacting as well. It flinches, in obvious reaction, and I hope we can just drive it off this easily.

Of course, it shrugs and continues to race towards us, and then the Mains hit it again and it is definitely hurt in the exchange. Might this be first one I see actually die from our fire. That would be a difference. Good thing all of this is recorded automatically.

It gets close enough that it roars again and the sounds waves wash over the Track. The whole place shakes and rings from the action. I hear vibrations all over the place. All the Guns open up on it again and I can see gore splatter off from the impacts. The chaff, IR, and other distractors all go off in effectively it’s face and it rears back again.

I can tell we are making a difference and are hurting it. This is perhaps the most damage done in all the fights I have been in on missions. This is almost going to be a success at this rate. I can feel it is going to happen for us this time.

A third and fourth sets of rounds impact from both Main Guns and it is hurting obviously. More Side Gun impacts show up and I contemplate using one of the remaining missiles and decide not to use it. The first message said to conserve supplies as well as the time limit. Doing well enough so far this time.

There is a fifth dimming and at the near point blank range the two Main Guns do the trick. One round inpacts up close to the head, the other one right in the head and the whole thing is envolped in a cloud of ichor and gore. I see parts splatter off and suddenly it stops moving.

All the guns stop firing as one as we all watch the beast stop still, and fall sideways into what I presume will be its death. I have never heard of a large one being killed before. Have taken out the smaller ones, track size or less. Not something this large. A good thing to have happened to us.

I look and the internal cameras show the gunners all cheering. The Kid next to me is speechless. Hopefully the leaders back in The City will be able to analyze and get good intel from the records. We are not slowing down to collect any trophies. That is too dangerous and would use up valuable time.

“Cease fire, guns in standby. I have never seen a big one go down before. Great work to everyone, great work. Remember this day, we beat one of the monsters on its own terrain. We are heading home everyone. Staying at full speed, only a few days left.”

I close the internal communications and about this time the external communications end receiving and decoding and a second message starts to print.

::MSG FOLLOWS:: Priority Concern. All Tracks make all speed. Return NLT 4 days from receipt.  Maximum Spd possible. Conserve supplies. Return NLT 4 days from receipt. IMPERATIVE, NLT 4 days from receipt. This is the final reminder of this imperative. Sent by the City Leaders.::

Just a reminder of the time frame. This speed, and the different route, we have about 3.5 days left, so we have some leeway in the tasking. Must be something really big going on to warrant this. Really big.